young adult cancer canada

Localife is back!

March 8, 2012

When I first heard about Localife, I thought it was Loca-Life—as in, Crazy-Life— which made sense to me since getting cancer as a young adult is pretty crazy. But this double entendre is simply a coincidence; the name Localife was chosen to highlight that this is a local initiative.

While Young Adult Cancer Canada (YACC) had had great success with national programs such as Retreat Yourself and the Survivor Conference, it was clear that there was a need for something local that young adult survivors (YAs) and supporters could access and connect through in the months between the national events.

Isolation is still the number one challenge identified by young adult survivors; it is our long-term hope that Localife will lead to local, sustainable, engaged communities of survivors and supporters across Canada so that isolation will no longer be such a prominent issue.

Localife was piloted in Calgary in 2010. Every month or two, YAs and their supporters had a chance to get together for fun social activities, such as movie night, curling, raftbogganing, and more! Due to some changes in YACC staff in Calgary, Localife was dormant for most of 2011. It is now back up and running and we are pumped!

Our first event for 2012 is a movie night at Wellspring on Friday, March 9; 7:30 – 9pm. This will be a great opportunity for Localife alumni to meet our new YACC staff member extraordinaire, Katy Bond; and for newcomers to be welcomed into the community. The familiar faces of Mikey and Bonnie Lang will also be there, so it promises to be a great night all-round! Children are welcome and light refreshments will be provided.

We will have a few more opportunities for YAs and supporters to connect throughout the spring and you can stay up to date with the latest schedule in the Localife section of this website:

In April, there will be two Shave for the Brave events: Red Deer on April 14 and in Calgary on April 21. Shave for the Brave is YACC’s largest annual fundraiser and the money raised helps to fund our programs, like Localife and Retreat Yourself. We encourage you to get involved as a volunteer, participant, or just come and hang out with us at the event! For more details, please contact Katy directly at katy@youngadultcancer.ca.

On May 1, our Program Director, Karine Chalifour, will be in Calgary in preparation for Retreat Yourself West. She would love to meet up with local YAs and supporters for dinner at a restaurant that has yet to be confirmed. Please stay tuned for more details!

In late May/early June we will host our first-ever Localife Leader training weekend. Because things have been going so well with the pilot program in Calgary, we have decided to bring the program to Edmonton, Toronto, and Ottawa. If you live in these cities and you are interested in more info, read this post!